The march of the Extra 1sts came to a somewhat disappointing close in Shipston last Saturday.  Old Leamingtonians were beaten by a side that were more clinical with their opportunities and more unforgiving with the errors made by the gold and blues. However, there are still many positives that can be taken away from this result. You just have to REALLY want to see them!

Continuing with the youth selection policy of last week, Old Leams sent a colt’s heavy side over to Shipston. Making their Extra First debuts today were Jake Cooper at tight head, Lance at loose head, Ben Palmer at second row, Matt Hyam at blindside, Jason Hobman at scrum half and Tom Whelan at outside centre. Tom Hyam and Mike Tattersfield, two players who have already played at senior level several times this season were also included at wing and full back respectively.

Bringing the average age up some-what and making his last appearance at in an Old Leamingtonian shirt was fiery second row Toby Godrich. We will miss you and your determined approach to the game big fella. We also need to say farewell to “Monkey Brain” Luke Turner; he too is moving south and will be missed by many.

So onto the game. Well, let’s just say it didn’t start so well. Old Leams were exposed several times by some weak tackles and Shipston took full advantage of these mistakes to score two tries inside the first fifteen minutes. It was obvious that this team still had a few kinks to work out of its system...

It is also worth pointing out that we perhaps didn’t help ourselves with regards to the referee. But then again, he didn’t help US out much either...........Read into that what you will. Honour was restored and the rot stopped when Jason Hobman scored his first senior try on his senior debut. A break was made by fly-half Aaron Dudley, who made a sublime pass to the lightening quick Hobman. However, Jason was unable to initially catch this finely judged pass, but was able to recover to take the ball and pass to Mark Bisset. Bisset, certain that there was going to be a call for a knock on didn’t put as much effort as he would normally have done into his run, but upon not hearing the expected whistle blow (the ref being fifty or so metres behind) he off loaded to the looping Hobman and the scrum-half was able to score. Tom Hyam was unable to convert.

This was better. OL’s had gas to burn out wide; it was just a question of getting the ball to these guys with enough space to beat their men. The strange thing was that OL’s dominated the scrum AND the lineout; it was in the loose around the rucks and mauls that we were let down by some poor management of the breakdown. Shipston spoiled and harassed and the gold and blues were unable to build any form of momentum.

The second half was a better story all round. We spent far more time inside the Shipston half, making full use of the slope and the wind. The second try was scored by Mark Bisset, Jason Hobman turning provider off the back of another solid scrum and feeding the hefty centre to crash over in the corner.

Try number three was scored by Ian Maull. Again, Hobman took it up the short side from a scrum and the ball was passed down the line to Maull. The winger skinned his man like nobody’s business and plonked the ball down in the corner. Tom Hyam scored a MONSTER of a conversion from the touchline.

The less that is said about the indiscipline of the second half the better. But it is hard to control your own temper when the game is being controlled in the way that it was. In case you haven’t noticed I have totally and utterly neglected to mention anything about the Shipston tries. Must have just slipped my mind...

In my eyes the colts have a lot to be proud of today. They stepped up to the mark and gave it their best shot. It was not them that were found wanting; it was all of us. Honourable mentions in despatches go to the rampaging Jake. So fired up was this guy that when he was subbed off he legged it over to the nearby third team game and asked if he could play there too! Ben Palmer had a stormer in the second row, making some good breaks and making a good lineout combination with the aerial threat that is Chris Clapham. Matt Hyam played exceptionally well, especially as he was called upon to play after around about the thirty seconds it took for poor old Colin Day to get injured. Better luck next season Colin. Leading the front row was the John “0 points” Carnall and Andrew Hemming. These guys annihilated their opposite numbers, and found themselves in the same boat as the 2003 England World Cup front row; penalised for scrummaging too well!

The man of the match award goes to Jason Hobman. This talented youngster had a hand in every positive facet of our game. A superb debut and we hope to see many more performances like this to come in the future. Mark Foley and Luke Staton watch out....
Out wide Tom Whelan and Tom Hyam played well and worked hard, both having better second halves then they did first halves. I believe we will be seeing more of Mr. T Hyam in the senior set up next year. His confidence is not a problem at all, dictating line out moves and back moves to any and all within ear shot! Mike Tattersfield played well; making up for some earlier missed tackles with a couple of scintillating runs from deep. Next time HE WILL PASS THE BALL as well! The much coveted “DoD” award goes to the charismatic Mark Bisset, never without something to say to the ref. The award was a given following his attempted twenty five metre or so cross field pass; nice try Mark!

So that is it. The season is over. It is a shame we could not finish the way we started, but the line up for the game against Shipston bears little resemblance to the line-up that took the field against Dunlop all that time ago in September. The captaincy passes now from Aaron Dudley onto the capable shoulders of Dean Harris. It has been an honour to lead these guys and a real pleasure to write these reports. So for the last time, bring on the next lot.....